The Crappiness of Modern Laptops

UnixMan1230 · 2024-06-16 04:25:44

Something that has been on my mind for the last 3-4 years, now. Wondering if maybe its just me...

Does anyone else seem to notice that laptops these days just don't last, and are poorly designed? Its like build quality has gone down significantly over the years. Prime example: I bought a Lenovo Legion 5 circa December 2022, and within 4 months the rubber feet on it were peeling off and the adhesive got *everywhere*. Worse still, lenovo doesn't sell kits to fix this, so its just stuck with exposed plastic pegs that scrape against every surface this thing sits on and makes it hard for the laptop to stay planted at an angle (ie. a podium).

Worse still, those "buttonless" touchpads that do not have separated mouse buttons are a PAIN to use. So often I would go to open a tab in firefox, and find myself having accidentally closed the current one because my finger was on that "sweet spot' between the left button and right button areas. It got to the point that I *refused* to use that laptop without a mouse, because the touchpad was getting in the way of being able to work. After a certain point, I was carrying so many accessories just to compensate for the lack of ports and physical shortcomings of this thing that I may as well have been using a tower with a battery.

Is it just me? Am I just unlucky, or are there others who have had the same experience?...

aluma · 2024-06-16 05:00:23

I can only judge by previous models.

The ancestor of your Lenovo Legion 5 -Y500, a gaming laptop, a not very comfortable touchpad with two buttons, a flimsy plastic case.

Lenovo ThinkPad X201 from the business series, 5 buttons on the touchpad, joystick, Kevlar case with excellent hinges, keyboard that can be watered from the top, there are drain holes at the bottom. A latch that secures the lid and must be pushed back with a finger.

Maybe it's all about purpose?

If you are playing games, then it is probably better to use a gamepad and the laptop itself will be in more gentle conditions.

Last edited by aluma (2024-06-16 05:13:07)

Camtaf · 2024-06-16 07:58:34

Ever since the introduction of Chromebooks, I've seen the quality of laptops decline; so much so that I don't use one anymore, just desktop types of the SFF/USFF type, with a decent screen/monitor, & a decent mouse/keyboard.

soren · 2024-06-16 08:01:23

Its called planned obsolescence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence

nahkhiirmees · 2024-06-19 21:13:28

I haven't been troubled with rubber-feets of laptops.

But hardware support is always a problem with linux. Even with desktops.
Ok, usually you can get your graphics card working, kind of. But then you'll be stuck with the distro's kernel. No compiling the latest from kernel.org if you want those blobs working.

And then there's the new firmware that replaced BIOS. Recently noticed that i cannot boot from dvd if ssd is removed. What will i do if that ssd breaks?
With old hardware i could boot from dvd even after removing the hdd. But not necessarily with new machines.
I find that annoying.

stargate-sg1-cheyenne-mtn · 2024-06-21 05:55:35

@nahkhiirmees

Recently noticed that i cannot boot from dvd if ssd is removed. What will i do if that ssd breaks?

what is the manufacturer, model number, and/or any additional revision/version numbers to identify this machine that won't boot when the ssd fails and/or is inoperative/absent? other forum members and the community at large will want to know to be able to stay away from units such as yours. thanks.

Camtaf · 2024-06-21 09:03:01

@ nahkhiirmees

Go into the BIOS/UEFI setup & make USB booting the first choice, internal drive the second choice, then you can use a USB optical drive, if you want to, else a pendrive or external disk.

nahkhiirmees · 2024-06-21 12:34:33

I like to think that the usb-dvd-drive was before ssd in booting order. But i'm not 100% sure about that.

stargate-sg1-cheyenne-mtn · 2024-06-21 15:11:29

also was reminded of this(for windows users):

ttps://www.tenforums.com/general-support/104149-cannot-access-bios-boot-menu-during-startup.html

LU344928 · 2024-06-23 19:27:01

Battery life is my biggest gripe, particularly on ASUS models.

Matlib · 2024-08-07 23:19:15

I've got HP Dev One at work, and I'm pretty happy with it. It has a trackpoint along with touchpad. There are tiny annoyances like the power button right above backspace

I regret not buying one for myself when they were still available.

Carolina In My Mind · 2024-08-09 16:13:06

So don't buy a modern laptop. Buy a used, fairly old one in good condition--if you would be willing to accept that the less money you pay for one, the sooner you can expect it to die.

Granted that it depends on what "modern" means to you, but during my recent decade-long phase of using mostly laptops, I used old Thinkpad T series laptops from circa 2010-12. I love Thinkpad T4x laptops. I just got tired of replacing them.

nahkhiirmees · 2024-08-18 20:17:53

I also find it annoying, with UEFI_as_firmware_machines, that "boot from ssd immediately"-thing. Many times i had to keep F-buttons down in the keyboard while pushing powerbutton. That seems to be a reliable way to get that configuration- or boot-menu.

Last edited by nahkhiirmees (2024-08-18 20:51:57)

zapper · 2024-08-22 02:11:29

Framework is addressing part of this. The constant waste and their hinges are repairable. Also MNT Reform is doing somrthing similar but with ARM64 so far.

zapper · 2024-08-23 21:12:33

Btw, restricted boot is more accurate then secure boot for UEFI.

Also, the idea of having network stack underneath or OS is just plain stupid.

This is why people need to say no to doing drugs.

Not including marijuana but stronger ones.

Last edited by zapper (2024-08-23 21:12:57)

UnixMan1230 · 2024-08-24 01:27:19

@Carolina In My Mind

Way ahead of you. I currently run a thinkpad t430s, have been almost a year. Its the fact that a laptop built in 2022 and cost almost a grand couldn't be worth a damn that I was really aggravated about. For me the main thing is the touchpad. So big, bulky, and buttonless...its a pain in the ass to use.

zapper · 2024-08-25 06:26:38

@UnixMan1230 That's why I disable the touchpad and use trackpoint on the keyboard. It works like a charm and is my thing.

chomwitt · 2024-09-13 08:12:52

I have 10 years old Thinkpad T410.

Structurally is in bad shape , but i can still use devuan on it ok.

But for future i made a promise to my self to go towards laptops that score high not in performance but in repairability, modularity , openness , sustainability , and lower ecoprint .

For last years MNT Reform seems to be in good track toward some of these axis. But i dont have the money!

If anyone in greece cares to share the cost and share an MNT Reform please contact me. I propose sharing by turn in 2 months periods per shareholders. No more than 4 shareholders. So the cost could drop to 250euros.
Ofcourse that sharable laptop wont be the main laptop but a secondary one.

Last edited by chomwitt (2024-09-13 08:15:20)

zapper · 2024-09-16 00:38:13

Pocket MNT Reform is the one I ordered @chomwitt

I await the RK3588 though for that.

mtbvfr · 2024-12-17 05:53:47

zapper wrote:

Pocket MNT Reform is the one I ordered

Can these be penetrated by malevolent Black Hat Deep State Actors (a.k.a evil govern-ment)?

Babarosa · 2024-12-17 07:42:28

To my experience it is a matter of build quality, exchangeability of parts and therefore of price. Thankfully I can afford buying quality notebooks (e.g. Tuxedo, MacBook Pro, HP ProBook) and usually use these for a long time (10 years and more). These models also go very well with Linux.

A Lenovo IdeaPad for about € 300 presumably won't last that long.

greenjeans · 2024-12-17 16:41:29

I'm with @Carolina In My Mind on this one, my current old dog is a 2012 Compaq, still going strong, of course the battery finally gave up the ghost last year and I have to plug it in to use, one of the hinges is slightly broken, and occasionally I have to put wood-working clamp on the monitor as it has some mild de-lamination issues of some sort, lol.

But I love it, it has served me very well for 10 years. I don't use the touchpad though, never could stand those things, I just use a USB mouse.

Camtaf · 2024-12-17 17:37:45

The only laptop that I have now is an old HP G62 from 2011, dead battery removed & runs on mains, plus an old converted to Linux Toshiba Chromebook from 2014, whose battery still works, (so far ), otherwise I use pre used SFF, USFF & thin client computers.....lots of old cheap computers, just for fun.

(My main computer is a HP Elitedesk i5 SFF with 8GB DDR3 & 250GB SSD.)

Last edited by Camtaf (2024-12-17 17:38:21)

alphalpha · 2024-12-18 19:57:26

i have a small collection of old thinkpads
since my second x230 died, i have been daily driving even older models
im currently on a modded W500 with a Q9000, that thing is a beast!

LU344928 · 2024-12-18 20:52:59

This looks like it would be long-lasting:

https://kde.slimbook.es/

The officially official Devuan Forum!

#1 2024-06-16 04:25:44

The Crappiness of Modern Laptops

#2 2024-06-16 05:00:23

Re: The Crappiness of Modern Laptops

#3 2024-06-16 07:58:34

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#4 2024-06-16 08:01:23

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#5 2024-06-19 21:13:28

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#6 2024-06-21 05:55:35

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#7 2024-06-21 09:03:01

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#8 2024-06-21 12:34:33

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#9 2024-06-21 15:11:29

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#10 2024-06-23 19:27:01

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#11 2024-08-07 23:19:15

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#12 2024-08-09 16:13:06

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